OYSTER CULTURE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 124, 27 May 1936, Page 9

OYSTER CULTURE.

WEALTH FROM SEA. LESSONS FROM AUSTRALIA, METHODS OF «FARMING." (II.) If the cultivation of oysters is to become a profitable occupation and provide a large amount of employment, steps must be taken on the lines of those taken in New South Wales, where, adjacent to suitable rivers and estuaries, foreshore lands are leased under a proper system of supervision and farmed. The history of oyster culture in Australia, is that in the hands of private enterprise a large and lucrative industry has been developed, and the output has ; grown steadily year by year. There is a very big market in both Melbourne and Sydney, arid . most of the supplies are drawn from the tidal rivers along the New South Wales coastline. On foreshore land leased by the State i Fisheries Department private indivi- ' duals have laid down artificial beds, and the business proceeds on farming lines I with the aid of the best advice that the i State can give. > In Australian waters there is no one fixed spawning season, j the spawning taking place at different times, according to locality, and this, of course, is an advantage to the growers. Investigation shows that the oyster usually begins to spawn when twenty months old, and the oyster requires an age of at least three years before it is fit for table use. The oyster thrives particularly well where there are banks of mud. Formation of Beds. All sorts of material is used for the formation of the artificial beds—sticks, stones, timber and wire-netting. When stone is used it is usual to put it down in the form of slabs, and it has the advantage of being indestructible as compared with stakes, or timber "klabs. A popular and cheap method is to cut | mangrove stakes, and then to arrange

them in pyramids before the spawning starts. After the spat has found a- home on the stakes they are removed and planted upright, there to remain' for three years until the oyster comes ■ to maturity. When the time comes for collection only the large oysters are selected for the market, and the small' ones are graded out to be given further time to grow in wire-netting trays. Where stone is used it is there for all time. Usually the stone slabs are cut to a size about two feet by one foot, and the slabs are placed in rows on the mud, with room between them for the pickers to operate. The spat attaches itself as readily as it does to wood or anything that appears substantial. The principal set is in the autumn months, ; and the stones are allowed to remain undisturbed until the spring. Then the , surface is reversed. The spat is very thin—shelled in its early stage, but it soon grows and spreads. Where wood is used there are several methods employed. Saplings are driven into the mud, the average height being about three feet, or forked uprights are driven and horizontal poles placed in • position. A further method is to erect ; poles so that they will form a platform. | Maturing Process. i An important feature of the industry ; is the maturing of young oysters, and here general use is made of wirei netting trays Set .on hardwood battens. • The wire-netting is drawn across a. L frame, nailed to the battens, and then 3 placed on piles in such a way that the j maturing oysters are covered by the 3 periodic flow of the tides. > In Australia oyster culture has 11 become a recognised form of farming a. f I product. It is a method of farming that '• demands close and careful attention, r but one that does not involve a great T deal of hard manual work. Once the 1 farm is under weigh the grower's great--3 est difficulties are over, and he has a s crop that produces a good return, and s an article of diet that is likely always to be in favour, and one for which is an increasing demand. f r fore . e Australian system small areas o ;, shore are leased at a nominal re " i the conditions attached to ito be observed, and lf * ie ** or cancella--3 neglected provision is > m and sale i tion of the lease. _ -The p government i. of the oysters is" bfist graded, t supervision, and o y market. > matured oysters go on the